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OP
enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 261 |
I recently heard of this site on Radio4, take a look: http://www.blackpeopleloveus.comLooking in the letters section, I was amazed at the number of people who didn't 'get it' and thought that it was for real.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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bonzaialsatian: Somehow I doubt that any redneck would have the energy to create such a site.
So the creators may be sincere. :My sentiments are that only assholes feel a need to put down
blacks.
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enthusiast
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OP
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No, it's definitly a joke - it's an ironic, sarcastic look at the subtle racism that goes on, coming from the misconceptions of people of all races towards each other, due to people still being intrenched in old stereotypes.
(I know it's not for real partly because they talked about the makers of the site on radio4, and also the pictures are so set-up and cheesy, as is most of the writing.) I guess some people may feel that making fun of such a subject is wrong, however, I think that it may often be the first step to combatting such problems - providing the people it's aimed at get it.
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addict
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addict
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I think this is FANTASTIC ( in more ways than one) an excellent site, good link dr. bonzo. Very very funny with some marvellously astute jabs at boneheaded innocent bigotry.
I'm not sexist, my mother was a woman
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veteran
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Reminds me of a time in high school when I refused to stand for the black national anthem. Guy approaches me afterward and calls me a racist. Of course, when you get called this, there is no defense - racism means just about whatever the name-caller wants it to mean (their definition being The One, True Definition). At that time I wasn't aware of how the game was played. I foolishly wasted breath denying the claim, to be met by the brilliant retort, "Oh, yea! I bet some of your best friends are black!" (As if this card somehow trumped evidence, logic, or even good sense.)
k
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old hand
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instant edit: Some may find this site offensive. I'm still scratching my head over it and only post it here for those who care to take a look. Please do not go there hoping to be offended - please only go if you have a genuine spirit of curiosity and wish to decide for yourselves if it's a joke or not. I was sent it by a friend who wasn't sure either.http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/2680/Then there's this one, about masturbation....I saw another one, once, about breastfeeding, and now I can't find the link. Sometimes, it's not always possible to tell when it's a joke....(as with the one above....hm.). I think with the blackpeopleloveus one, you CAN tell - as bonzer said, the photos and text are sooo cheesy!
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old hand
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old hand
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Re: http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com
I didn't find the site that funny; it is just a tad too absurd. Perhaps it's those who identify with the warped mentality being satired that will laugh the most.
I think this letter displays a well-rounded opinion of the site:
As you may know, the television show "The Simpsons" includes a segment called the "Itchy and Scratchy show" which uses hyper-violent content to parody the cartoon "Tom and Jerry". Though "Itchy and Scratchy" was ostensibly created to criticize portrayals of violence as humorous, the segment quickly became popular in its own right, and its hyper-violent content is now seen by many as funnier than the less violent content of "Tom and Jerry".
As this example shows, anyone who pokes fun at a social ill without examining the consequences of that ill is not an author of satire but of a clever form of imitation at best. Unfortunately, as imitation is "the sincerest form of flattery", these would-be satirists perpetuate the very problem they were attempting to criticize; they invite those who are secretly attracted to the social ill in question to get in on the fun and write off those offended by such a counterproductive pastime as "not getting the joke".
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Carpal Tunnel
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The site didn't make me laugh, and it didn't even get a smile out of me.
Could I see the humor there intended? I guess. It just didn't strike me as being funny.
In fact, the site leaves me feeling disturbed.
Oh, well, to each his own, but I sure don't see that the site is helpful or particularly humorous. If anything, it's obvious--not very imaginative or clever.
Best regards,
A stick-in-the-mud
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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What do I think? I think this is a crap site.
OK, so it is taking a poke at white pseudo-liberal attitudes that hide an entrenched mild(ish) racism, but it does so by pointing up cultural differences in a not too nice fashion, and points up the undoubted fact that many black people most certainly don't love us, and not unreasonably!
Both aspects of society need discussion, openly and seriously. Unsubtle, badly formulated satire is definitely not the way to do it.
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thanks, by, WW, and Rhuby - you guys said it best.
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Carpal Tunnel
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as to whether the masturbation site is a joke, I think this quote gives away the game:
Myth: But everyone's doing it!
Reality: Surveys have repeatedly shown that up to 5% of Americans don't...
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old hand
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old hand
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this quote gives away the game
Now how did I miss that....! Think I was probably (when I first went on that site, way back when) spending too much time reading the incensed letters from people who took it all seriously....
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TEd
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journeyman
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journeyman
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Wow, Is everyone in here white? I would never assume that, but then I'm still a stranger. And I didn't think the site was funny for many reasons which will remain my own, for now, but I'm not offended by the tone of most of this discussion. Who has time for elaborate ruses such as this?
Racism is never very funny....or very far away, I guess...
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Carpal Tunnel
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MM:
I agree with you, there's nothing funny about the blackpeopleloveus site.
Many years ago I was tasked to facilitate a class on racism at my job. I learned quite a bit about racism (and about myself) while teaching this class. One of the most important things that I got out of it was that everyone has, at some level or another, a streak of racism. In some not much and in others a lot. The whole purpose of this class was to inform them that we (the government agency for whom I worked at the time) did not care a whit about what people thought. BUT, for the eight hours a day the people were at work, we cared very much how they acted. We cannot buy your thoughts, but we certainly can buy your deeds. One of the hoped-for results of this was that if we changed a person's deeds we might eventually change their attitudes. There's apparently a good bit of research that shows there's some truth to that, but I don't think it works very well in the real world.
This site in a parodic way shows that the self-proclaimed liberals who describe themselves as "color-blind" are far from that, and are unconsciously very bigoted. In that respect it could serve a very good purpose if the people who most needed it were to view it subjectively. In my experience that's not likely to happen because those ultra-liberal souls are so self-righteous they cannot even begin to see how hateful their attitudes are deep inside.
TEd
TEd
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journeyman
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journeyman
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TEd,
(I'm still trying to figure out what's up with the 2 capitals there?...anyway....)
Yeah, I got the parody part; it was just so initially repulsive. But I did go back in just now and look at the letters several in here have mentioned, and they were less irritating than I had feared. The most interesting thing about the site is actually the links to some solid sites on Black history, etc. I had some fun roaming around in there.
So, yeah, we're all suffering from some level of denial of one another (to put it mildly). That's pretty painfully obvious just trying to get through each day. I guess I had come in here to get away from that aspect of the 3 dimensional world, but whatever.
I'm a stranger, after all....
mm
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mm:
The TEd is to differentiate between me and my evil twin teD, who hardly ever shows up here, but causes lots of strife when he does. (The truth is that I fat fingered it when I was first registering here and didn't notice it until after I'd complete the registration process.)
I didn't consider the site repulsive, because it was so patently a put on, but it seemed to me just a waste of time by whoever built it because it just isn't going to get through to those whom it is skewering. And my social conscience desperately wants to reach those ultraliberals and bash their heads together with some reality.
My earliest childhood school memories are of Tappan Elementary School in Tappan, NY, where there were a couple of hundred children, of whom 95% were white. I remember thinking about the black kids that they were just varying shades darker than I am.
That changed when our familymoved to the very small town of Burke, Virginia in the mid-50s, right at the time of the massive reactions to integraion attempts. On my first day of school my brothers and I got on the bus and started off for school. I asked the kid sitting in front of me why we were going by the elementary school about a mile from where we lived. He replied, "That's the colored school, stupid. They ain't good enough to go to OUR school." You could tell just from looking at the outside that "separate but equal" wasn't working.
We've come a ways since then, but the covert racism and stereotyping is much more difficult to eradicate. I just finished reading "Blinded by the Right" by a guy named David Brock, and was astounded by the prevalence of hypocrisy in the right wing here in the US (just as I am astounded by the paternalism and underlying hypocrisy from the left wing!) BTW, I recommend "Blinded..." to all of you. It's a very interesting journal of a man's journey to self-awareness. I had a problem or two with Block's writing style at times, becuase he builds very complex sentences that take away from the message. (Don't know ANYONE else who does that!)
TEd
TEd
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journeyman
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journeyman
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Dear TEd,
I'll be on the lookout for the 'evil twin'. I actually work with a person who goes by Ted/Ed interchangably, and seeing your name (what does one call it in here?) is a bit haunting, but now I'm over it.
I appreciate your thoughful reply. I'm so new in here, that it was a bit surprising when I popped into this thread of discussion. I didn't really want to go this way with my thoughts in the few spare moments I have. But this is a community of sorts, and as one of those ultra-liberals you hope to eradicate, I'm open minded enough to go with the flow, for a while.
So, thank you for that window into your world. And I appreciate the recommendation on the book, but there's absolutely no chance I'll ever be blinded by the right, so I may pass here. I can't seem to read anything substantive these days anyway. My mind is restless, hence I'm rooting around in here with all of you, when I should be writing on my own.
I am looking for lines of inquiry, though. And am pleased to make your acquaintance.
mm
ps Is this the worst spell checker on line? Seems inappropriate for AWAD, n'est-ce pas?
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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it looks like some of the links are good but the satire is insipid -- and possibly destructive for being so
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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In reply to:
but the satire is insipid
My sentiments exactly, inselpeter.
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